The Covid-19 pandemic has adversely disrupted all the sheen our Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector had amassed in the last few years. Almost 82% of small businesses have been impacted due to this pandemic. It is common in today’s time that you read about the havoc this pandemic has wreaked everywhere, but its impact on the small businesses is very difficult to build back, looking at the sheer time and impact. This is the global story today as more than 200 countries have been impacted.
More than 50% of the MSMEs in India are expected to cut down, shut down or sell this year due to the disastrous impact of the second wave. Only 22% of Indian Startups and MSMEs have over 3-months of sustenance. Small businesses have an inherent advantage of agility which helps them create a market space for themselves, but the challenges are dependence on manpower and tight cash flows.
India has taken a sizable brunt of this Pandemic. Small businesses like shops, restaurants, stores, boutiques, salons, and many more have been going through a tough time. Times for sure is challenging but it is for everyone, which is the saving grace. Hence, firm resolve, and a smart approach will hold the key here. The solution must be affordable, easy to use, time-tested, proven method and tool.
Due to the pandemic, corresponding lockdowns, and virtual ways of working, a new kind of market and segments with altogether varied demographics have emerged as a bigger cloud community, hence the ways of reaching and influencing have to be new and digital. Digital marketing is the solution.
Digital marketing has drastically changed the way businesses operate today. More than 100 million people use Facebook Watch every day and there are over 280 million Facebook users in India only.
Globally it’s not just the big businesses and brands who benefit from digital marketing, but small businesses benefit more with very low costs. 24% of marketers plan on increasing their investment in content marketing in 2020. Hence, it has become very critical for the MSMEs today to get inside this arena. Today there are over 8 million active advertisers on Facebook, the vast majority of which are small and medium-sized businesses. Also, to talk about Instagram, it is the social channel with the second-highest Return of Investment (ROI) among marketers globally.
Let’s discuss some easy and key elements which can do the magic.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND SOCIAL MESSAGING PLATFORMS
Increased use of social media and social messaging apps can help retain and engage. 2020 saw more people increase their time online, including how they researched products, brands, and organizations. Organizations have seen a saving of more than 30% on the cost of reaching customers and with more geographical coverage as a bonus. You will be surprised to know that in April 2020, WhatsApp was the top messaging app in terms of monthly active users globally. In the same context, Influencer Marketing is very effective and highly result-oriented. Almost 97% of top searches on Pinterest are unbranded, hence there is so much scope for small and medium-sized businesses.
DEVELOP MORE VIDEO CONTENT
In 2021 it is crucial to use various video content formats that fit your brand, niche, and industry and optimize them throughout the customer’s journey. As per global sources, almost 93% of brands got a new customer because of a video on social media and over 84% of people say that they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video. Moreover, almost 87% of video marketers say that video has increased traffic to their website and around 80% of video marketers globally claim that video has directly increased sales.
ASSISTING CONTENTCREATION AND DELIVERY THROUGH CHATBOTS AND AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and chatbots will accelerate content creation and delivery strategies and become inextricable parts of the global user experience. AI can be the game-changer in the current matrix. Chatbots fuelled by AI are predicted to handle over 88% of customer service by 2021.
The digital marketing landscape is ever-expanding, it is estimated that by 2023 the number of global social media users is expected to reach almost 3.43 billion. Moving ahead in time, you will not be surprised to know that big and small, all kinds of companies spend more on digital marketing than on traditional marketing.
The trend today is newspapers to e-papers, radios to music apps, TV to Content Platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime, hoardings hold minimalistic value if you have people working from home, and kids studying online at home, other BTL advertising now competes with e-commerce and online marketplaces. Hence, to conclude, it would be fair to say that since markets have evolved so the marketing has to evolve, adapt and innovate. Technology is taking the centrepiece in this evolution and throwing a new challenge to the marketing fraternity globally.
There is one silver lining in all of this and that is early adaption. The faster adaptation will be the key to survival and your ticket to growth..